http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/44317-1.html
By William Jackson
05/21/07
A new batch of reports on malicious code are out, and the news just
keeps getting worse. Hackers continue to come up with new and better
schemes for getting past our defenses.
Internet security service provider MessageLabs uncovered some
interesting trends in its report on online threats for March. Not only
did the number of targeted attacks go up, but the attacks are becoming
more narrowly targeted.
By a wide margin, the most common of the 249 low-volume, high-value
attacks identified by the company consisted of a single e-mail sent to
one person. Nearly one quarter of the individuals targeted were in
government, and that sector was the most commonly targeted by these
attacks, by a two-to-one margin. The electronics, aviation, retail,
communications and finance sectors rounded out the top tier of targets.
The bad guys know which organizations have data worth stealing and are
picking them out one by one, said MessageLabs senior anti-virus
technologist Alex Shipp.
That does not mean that the more widely broadcast attacks are
disappearing. To get their malware past antivirus engines, some hackers
are employing what Commtouch Software calls polymorphic distribution
patterns. Thats a polysyllabic way of saying that hackers are generating
a large number of distinct variants of a worm or virus and releasing
them in short, intense bursts. This creates many zero-day exploits,
increasing the chances of getting them past defenses before new
signatures can be developed.
During the peak early in the quarter, the Storm/Nuwar malware released
over 7,000 variants in a single day, Commtouch reported.
Instant-messaging and peer-to-peer networks also continue to be
attractive vectors for malware. Akonix Systems reported 38 distinct new
attacks on IM networks in April, the first monthly increase in the
number of new IM attacks this year. Attacks on peer-to-peer networks
such as Kazaa and eDonkey were also up, with 36 new attacks identified
last month. Because IM and P2P often operate outside an enterprises
accepted-use policy, these applications can provide undefended rogue
connections that can be exploited by attackers.
Social engineering remains a popular tool for slipping past defenses.
Commtouch reported subject lines on malicious e-mail such as First
nuclear act of terrorism! to entice the unwitting recipient to open and
click. If sensationalism isnt your cup of tea, there is always the more
tender a bouquet of love, popular around Valentines Day. Hey, if it
worked with the I love you virus, why not give it another shot?
The targeted, single-recipient e-mail is another form of social
engineering. Although the volume of these is necessarily low, the
rewards are potentially greater. A carefully tailored e-mail has a
better chance of getting the intended recipients attention, they are
harder for filters to spot and block, and the targeted network is likely
to contain data worth stealing.
MessageLabs also found that the favored tool for delivering the
malicious code in targeted e-mails has shifted recently. Microsoft
PowerPoint files were the most common vector for delivering code in
March, edging out MS Word, with 45 percent of infected attachments being
.ppt files. Malicious attachments with .doc files accounted for 35
percent of the payloads, and .exe files were only 15 percent.
This spike in the use of PowerPoint could be an anomaly. It apparently
was driven by a single gang with an IP address in Taiwan that used the
same attack file repeatedly because it had not been identified and
blocked by antivirus companies.
But, anomaly or not, the increasing use of PowerPoint to deliver malware
to government recipients could have unintended beneficial consequences.
Just imagine the burst of productivity in government offices if agencies
banned the use of PowerPoint. I know it is not likely to happen, but we
can dream.
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